#the fire orb the dragon stole is the last thing we need to bring back a dead god

[bravest-notts]

we're now maybe two or three sessions from fighting an ancient white dragon who's also wielding a powerful fire orb on top of his usual abilities. as The Cleric™ i am feeling a growing sense of anticipation and nervousness, like preparing to sit for an exam held at gunpoint

[hellaoldfander86]

The Grey Mage’s Quest Ch.17

Word Count: 1834

Tags/Warnings: None

Chapter 17: Back to Normal

Patton was getting concerned.

“What if Roman was unable to find the reversal agent?” Patton says with a worried frown, “It has been so long!”

Karybdis sips from his canteen. “If anyone could get the reversal agent, it would be Prince Roman. He would not give up.”

“No, he would not,” Logan states, crossing his arms. “He feels responsible for our well being. It is his realm. He would want to finally be able to rectify our situation.”

“You would be correct there, calculator watch.” A familiar voice says, stepping into the light of the glowing orbs. A smiling, normal sized Prince Roman stands before them. “There is someone I would like you to meet. Especially you, mage. She has some choice words for you.”

“She?” The stunned mage parrots before realizing that the others have left, and hurries to catch up to the group.

The group enters the cave, and as Patton enters behind Roman, a black and purple shape bounces into his arms, which turns out to be a now normal sized Virgil. “I know we said as soon as we were both normal, but I had to at least get one Super Dad hug.” The anxious side says as Patton looks at the purple and black clad side in his large arms, and lifts him a bit more so Virgil could hug him around the neck, and wraps all of his arms around the anxious sides body and gives him a light squeeze.

“How was that, kiddo?” The paternal side asks.

“Not bad. I prefer your normal hugs though.”

Patton chuckles and sets Virgil down, then notices the red-haired woman smiling at them.

Roman clears his throat. “Logan, Patton, Karybdis. This is Metis Mnemosyne Decima. You may have heard me refer to her as the Dragon Witch.”

“Wow! You didn’t tell me that she was so pretty!” Patton chirps with a megawatt smile

“I see we have a charmer in the Lord of Morality,” Metty says with a smile as she walks over to the new arrivals. “Lord of Intelligence, it is good to finally meet you. Roman has spoken of you often.”

Logan crosses his arms. “Probably when he was upset about something I did. It is a pleasure to meet you, also.”

Metty stops in front of Karybdis and crosses her arms. “You.” She fixes the mage in a green-eyed stare. “What possessed you to do this to them?”

The mage shrank back from the rage being directed point-blank at him. “I w-wanted to g-get the reversal agent to help th-those afflicted by chaos magic.” He stutters while dropping his eyes down to the floor.

“By subjecting the Crown Prince and the High Lords to magic that had a RUMOURED reversal agent? What if the rumor was false? They would have been stuck! You have no idea of the damage that could have caused!” Metty seethed at the mage.

“M-my contact with the Mages Collective said that the information was solid. I ha-ad every belief that the rumor was indeed fact.” Karybdis muttered to the floor.

Metty hummed in thought. “When did your plan to force the Prince himself to help you come about?”

“I saw them in the clearing and the idea came to me. After I had moved them I had to get fresh chaos water since what I had was old and unstable. Ever since they took the potions I have been ashamed of myself for doing such an underhanded thing, to My Prince of all people! And when I realized who was also involved, my shame was hundredfold. I only pray that someday they will forgive me.” Karybdis says, looking up into Mettys eyes.

Metty's luminous eyes narrowed. “That remains to be seen. I am sure his highness will let you know. I now know the how and the why. Now the Prince, the Lords and I have business to conclude. I thank you for helping them get here, but now I must send you away. I will take charge of their safety now. Goodbye.” She flicks her wrist and the mage disappears in a swirl of black and green smoke.

Metty holds up a hand at the gasp of surprise Patton emitted. “Do not worry. I sent him home, along with his wagon. He is fine. Except I unashamedly stole these.” And she points at the table and a bowl full of Roulettes appears. “I was unaware these were in season. A pleasant surprise. I will have my staff check all known berry patches around my keep now. Speaking of my keep..”

A wave of her hand and the group is suddenly in a well-appointed room with a fire in the hearth and a large, polished table and sturdy chairs in the center, with a chandelier of glowing orbs over the table. The room had beautiful tapestries on the stone walls and more glowing light orbs within the wall sconces. The bowl of Roulettes appear on the table, and two cups appear next to the bowl.

“I only use that cave on the occasion that I want some alone time. This is much better.” Metty sighs.

“I am sure you are eager to return to normal.” Metty picks up the cups and offers one to Patton and the other to Logan. “This will do the trick.” She steps back and smiles.

Patton looks down at Virgil, who nods his head vigorously. He looks down one last time at his large, muscular form. “Well, back to being just plain old dad. Thank goodness.” He then drinks the liquid in the cup quickly and sets the cup down on the table. “At least it wasn’t gross like the other potions,”  he thinks as a warmth radiates from his stomach, and a bright light forces him to close his eyes. An odd feeling, like traveling in an elevator going down causes him to step back when the feeling suddenly stops. The paternal side feels hands on his shoulders, and he opens his eyes to see that he is the same size as Virgil as the anxious side pulls him into a hug. “You are still Super Dad. Inside.” The anxious side whispers into Patton's ear as the moral sides two arms wrap around and squeeze.

Patton pulls back and looks into Virgil’s eyes. “Wait. Your eyes are still purple. A deep purple.”

Virgil looks back at the moral side. “And yours are blue. Not as bright, but still blue. Princey?” The anxious side looks over at the royal side.

Roman looks at the anxious side. “Mine will most likely be a dark shade of red. It must be a side-effect of being changed by the magic. We can have something personal charmed to change the color of our eyes back to brown when we wear it.” Virgil looks Roman in the eyes. “Yep. A deep red. Could even pass as brown in a pinch.”

They all look over to Logan, who hasn’t taken the reversal agent yet. “I don’t know how this is going to work. I don’t know if I am physically able to drink this. Am I stuck like this?” The logical side seems to be beginning to panic, Virgil can feel Logan’s fear prickling along his arms.

Metty moves to stand in front of the panicking logical side and curls her hands around Logan’s. “Magic made you like this. Magic will return you to normal. Do not think about it, just drink it. Magic will find a way. If I have to douse you with the reversal agent, I will, regardless of the limited quantity. Either way, you will return to normal, it is of the utmost priority.”

Logan looks Metty in the eyes, then looks at the others, who have gathered around him. Roman and Virgil have put hands on his shoulders, and look at him with small smiles. Patton takes Metty’s place in front of him as she steps away, and puts his hands over Logan’s hands holding the cup with the reversal agent “You can do it, Lo.” He whispers, “For Thomas.”

“For Thomas.” The logical side whispers. Logan brings the cup up to his lips and tips the contents into his mouth. To his surprise, the contents do not flow back out because of a lack of an esophagus. He closes his eyes, and suddenly he feels a sensation that he hasn’t felt in a week. Warmth. It glows within him, warming his core, and flows to his extremities.  He flexes his fingers, then he feels the sensation of someone holding his hand, and hands on his shoulders. He suddenly feels the need for oxygen, and he lets out a gasp as he begins to breathe. He opens his eyes, and everyone is still around him, smiling. He looks at his hands. His HUMAN hands. And smiles. “Magic finds a way.” he murmurs and is suddenly hugged by Patton.

“I told you,” Metty says with a chuckle. “I think dinner is long overdue, let me be your hostess for your last meal in the Imagination. I have a story to tell, and I think you all will be interested in it, not just His Highness.”

“I think that is a fine idea,” Roman says while giving Logan’s shoulder a squeeze. “I haven’t been to your keep before, plus I think Logan still wants to try the Roulettes.”

The three other sides agree, and Metty nods and pulls on a cord on the wall. Servants come in with trays of food, and Metty waves her hand and place settings appear on the table. “Let us dine, then we will enjoy the Roulettes for dessert.” She says as she takes her seat at the head of the table, and Roman and Logan take seats on one side, Patton and Virgil on the other.

The sides enjoy the meal immensely, especially Logan, who hasn’t eaten in a week, and proclaims that the mage was wrong, he was actually hungry when he changed back, but not as much as he would be if he had gone the entire week without food. The dishes were cleared away, and the Roulettes are left where everyone could reach them easily.

Logan is the first to grab one, and looks at it with his deep blue eyes and pops it into his mouth and gets a confused look on his face. “Cantaloupe?” He murmurs. Everyone chuckles at the logical sides confusion.

“You said you had a tale to tell. Please tell us.” Roman says, sitting back in his chair, holding a glass of lemon-infused water, popping a Roulette into his mouth.

“Yes. It is time to tell the tale.” Metty says as she takes a sip of her own water, and stands up. She plucks a Roulette out of the bowl and eats it thoughtfully. “Are you aware of what the realm has been going through?”

“No, I have not. Please tell me. I need to know what has happened.” The royal side says, all business.

Chapter 18